Bored Panda reached out to Harris, who was kind enough to answer our questions, to learn more about him and his comics. We asked him to share a bit about his background: “I've been drawing my whole life, but I only decided about a year ago to take a risk and commit to my art full-time. I didn't attend art school, and I don't have any formal training beyond high school art classes. I just have an enormous appreciation for art. I've been extremely blessed to have found an audience that appreciates my drawings and humor over the last year," shared the artist.
While Harris has gained recent recognition in the comics world, like any other artist, he tends to experience uninspiring days. We are curious about how he copes with creative blocks and what his creative process looks like. Harris shared: “When an idea pops into my head, no matter how strange/dull/incomplete it might be, I write it down immediately in my notes. Sometimes I'll have an idea that I can picture so vividly I have to draw it right away. More often, however, I'll have a 'dry spell' for new ideas, so I'll go digging through some of the ideas I wrote down but disregarded for one reason or another. Ironically, these ideas tend to receive the most praise. You never know what's going to click with people, so I'm in the habit of drawing any idea as long as I think they're funny.”
The ideas are always the most challenging part of the creative process; however, once they are written down, Harris shared how long it takes for him to transform them into fully realized creations.
“It really depends. Webcomics are a breezy format, and I try to condense the joke to three panels at the most. Coming up with the idea is the hard part, because you can't force it, and you never know when inspiration will strike. Once I have an idea, it only takes me a couple of hours to draw and color a comic. I have some long-form comics I've been working on as well, which obviously take a bit more time. I'm hoping to have some of those finished in the coming months.”
We were also wondering how his artistic style evolved over time and what influences have shaped his unique approach to creating comics. Harris shared: “Since I've been drawing full time, this past year I've probably spent more hours making art than the rest of my life combined. My biggest realization this year has been to stop trying to draw like someone else. I know and follow so many incredible artists, and sometimes I have those nagging thoughts: "Why can't I draw like this person? How do they do that?" It took me a long time to realize that your artistic journey doesn't begin until you let go of these ideas and commit to being the absolute best version of YOU. It might sound a bit dramatic in regards to my silly comics, but that epiphany was really important to me this year.”
And lastly, Harris added: “I would just like to give a huge thanks to everyone who has supported me this year, including you guys at Bored Panda! I'm only at the beginning of my journey as an artist, and I have so much more coming up! If you'd like to see or hear more from me, you can check me out on my Twitter and Instagram accounts. I also teach free art classes once a week on twitch.tv/beetlemoses, and I co-host a podcast about art/memes/the internet called Cold Cuts, which can be found on YouTube and Spotify. Thank you again!”
